Well said. Unfortunately, Lacey's hit squad is going after Gascon hard and fast with a new ad campaign attacking his Prop 47, blaming it for the increase of homeless meth addicts. Garcetti and the LAPD are playing along with this propaganda. The former is crying foul about not having received Prop 47-funded grant monies from the state for treatment/rehab resources, etc. but the record shows otherwise.

Thanks for the response!

My homage novel to Tharpe and the race/gender politics of the industry -- "Rock N' Roll Heretic" will be out later this year

Thanks so much for your comment. You're right on the money and he is deeply missed by all his friends and family. I'll forward your comment to them. It's wonderful that tributes are still coming in.

Thanks, Tina. He would have appreciated your kind feedback and memories -- I know his family will. Everyone still feels a tremendous sense of loss at his untimely passing.

I certainly don't assume that women of color have divested themselves of patriarchy. Critique of internalized sexism and misogyny is central to my work. That said, deflection on the issue of male responsibility for institutionalized patriarchy, heterosexism, et al. by citing women's complicity is insidious. Black women are not responsible for the horrific rates of intimate partner violence, sexual assault and sexual harassment in communities of color. Black women are more likely to die from intimate partner violence than any other group in this country (and are more likely to be criminalized trying to defend themselves against it) and this is a hard cold fact that male-centric civil rights movement activism has done little to nothing to redress.

Great post and call to arms. Not surprising that the bloviating turncoat Villaraigosa is on the side of corporate profiteers.

As a resource provider and mentor at Gardena High I was outraged by the tenor of your segment on the school shootings. The implication that Gardena is so radically different, so socially pathological and "lawless" in comparison to the affluent high-achieving El Camino (where, of course, one wouldn't expect gun activity) was offensive. I was also outraged by the egregiously ignorant comments of Ms. Alvarez, the GHS alum. Alvarez flatly stated that after her graduating class the "smart kids" didn't go to GHS. Alvarez' dismissive ignorance nothwithstanding, there are tons of "smart kids" at GHS. They have multiple intelligences and I am proud to work closely with some of them. These students work diligently to achieve despite the stereotypes and racist imagery of mainstream media like WWL.A.. Clearly GHS is lacking in the kind of academic resources, tax base and district support that more affluent schools like El Camino have. However, to categorically smear the students at a school, and imply that its student body are "dregs" who don't have the intellectual wherewithal (rather than the social mobility) to go elsewhere is irresponsible and prejudicial.